George hipwood



(No Model.)

G. HIPWOOD. CAN OPENER.

No. 458,703. Patented Sept. 1, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE HIPlVOOD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO FRANCIS F. BIBBER, OF SAME PLACE.

CAN-OPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 458,703, dated September 1, 1891.

Application filed June 1,1891. Serial No. 894,641. No model.)

To all 1077,0722 it may concern."

Be it known that I, GEORGE I-Irrwoon, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Can Openers, of

which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the to same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is an elevation showing my improved can-opener in use, the bodyof the can I 5 being represented as broken away; Fig. 2, an end elevation of the same, looking from the left in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a bottom plan View of the guard, and Figs. 4 and 5 views of the guards, illustrating modifications in the adjusting mechanism.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

My invention relates, especially, to a de vice for opening tin cans and is designed as animprovement on the implement shown and described in United States Letters Patent numbered 450,810, dated April 23, 189.1, and granted to me for new and useful improve- 0 ments in can-openers.

. In the drawings, A represents the can, and B the guard, of the can-opener considered as a whole, and O the handle.

The guard B comprises a semi-disk d, from the periphery of which lugs f are pendent. The disk cl is adapted to rest upon the top of the can and is provided with a longitudinal knife-slot which is arranged out of parallelism with a line tangent to the central radial line of said semi-disk or segment. A

plate h is fitted to slide horizontally in suitable ways formed in the lugs f and is provided on its inner end with a curved head i, which is adapted to engage and conform to the curve of the side wall of the can. A11 adjusting-screw j, passing centrally through the lug j", engages the slide-head i or is fitted to turn loosely therein, forcing said slide against the can.

A curved or hook-shaped cutting-blade k is secured in the handle 0 and is pivoted at m in the knife-slot g of the segment d eccentrically of the center of said segmentor semidisk. The handle O projects at p in front of the pivot of said knife, to afford a bearing for the hand in obtaining sufiicientleverage to force the point of the blade through the can-top g.

In the use of my improvement the semidisk d is disposed on the top of the can, as shown best in Fig. 2, and the gage-plate 70 adjusted by means of the screw j so as to bring the knife-point at a desired distance from the side of the can. The parts being in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the opera-tor, by forcing the toe p of the handle downward, readily drives the point of the curved blade kthrough the can-top, said blade being provided, in the ordinary manner of blades of this class, with a cutting-edge on both sides. By moving the handle vertically the knife is caused to cut its way through the can-top, the guard-plate 7L, bearing. against the side of the can, readily directing the movement of said knife as it is fed along by the operator. The slot 15 out by the knife being on a circle with the same center as the can-side, to prevent liability of the blade 7.; binding and tending to work in straight line toward the outer edge of the can-side, the diagonal slot g is provided. The inner end of said slot, being farther from the periphery of the can than the pivot m, slants the knife sufficiently in relation to the guide to enable it to feed readily without binding.

In Fig. i the lugs f are substituted by a segment 1*, through which two screws '10 are turned to engage the side of the can and perform the same function as the guide-plate h.

In Fig. 5 the guide-plate h is fitted. to slide in the bottom of the segment o. A red 00, secured to the head 11 of said plate, passes centrally through said segment and is provided with notches y, in which a rod .2, pivoted to outer face of said segment, is fitted to take to /engage the side of the can, zind a. curved and lock the guide-plate in position. cutting-blade pivoted to swing vertically 1n :0

Having thus explained my invention, What said segment, substantially as described.

I claim is- In a can-opener, a guard comprising a seg- GEORGE HIPWOOD. mental plate adapted to engage the can-top WVitnesses: and provided with a pendent lug, a guide ad- K. DURFEE, justable horizontallyin said lug and adapted O. M. SHAW. 

